Post One Spark, creators wonder: where do we go from here?

Earlier this week, two separate groups of Jacksonville creators organized what each called a “One Spark reunion.”

One brought together the folks behind a number of tech projects presented at the April festival, another across town, educationally-themed projects under the “Ed Spark” heading.

One part therapy session, the other support group, the gatherings were an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to share common experiences — and gripes — in navigating through this post-One Spark period and in taking their ideas to the next (i.e., capitalized) level.

Here’s a few of the concerns voiced by some Jacksonville entrepreneurs in the weeks following the arts and innnovation festival (names withheld to let creators speak freely):

On potential investors questioning the legitimacy of a pre-market product: “It’s crap until it becomes a success story.”

On finding capital: “The Jacksonville market is a really hard place to raise money — everyone wants to raise $1 million to get their idea going — and investors want to know for every $1 I invest how much will I get back?”

On the frustration of spending time fine-tuning a business plan: “It’s easy to get caught up in the loop where you’re writing the plan, editing the plan, changing the plan — and at the end of the day you just have to launch your business.”

On the long hours a solo entrepreneur often needs to put in: “I wear every hat, but I’m committed to doing anything I can until I’m profitable.”

On Jacksonville’s reputation as a startup community: “Until that first big acquisition happens, that flood gate [for other startups] is not going to happen. We need that first trailblazer.”

On the need for a sounding board of other creators: ”We all know every startup has a lot of things going against it, but it’s incredibly powerful to be able to air out your ideas to someone else,”